Super ROOM-SIZED 40k MEGABATTLE!!! Who's interested?

[Sheepshagga]

Everyone,

As an open Pacific Marauder's event, I'd like to organize a room-sized Apocalypse-style megabattle.  The idea is to clear out the furniture of this room and have a battlefield about 15'x25' (or however big we can get the room).

I have about 90% of the material and data needed to run this event, but now I'm looking for a room and interested parties.

Attached is a picture of a similar event that was run in Flagstaff, AZ.  I wasn't present for it, but what I envision is a busier battlefield, more like a giant city (complete with parks, etc...).



Depending on room size and availability, I don't have a date picked out yet, but as soon as I can get a room good enough, I'll throw out several date proposals.  If you happen to have access to such a room, please let me know ASAP so we can check it out.

The idea is to have about 3500 or more points per player, with 6-8 players per side.  The greater details will come later, but 20% of a team's total can be Superheavies, and we'll use a number of Apoc rules (but we'll also leave a bunch out).

This would be an all-day event, running from about 9 am until late in the evening (no 6 turn limit here).  It will be objective-based, and depending on players involved (and the armies they wish to field), it will have a good bit of fluff.

Off the top of my head, I can think of one particularly good bit of fluff to maximize army participation:

     Imperial world gone over to the greater good.  The Tau Empire has converted an Imperial World.  Renegade IG regiments, fortified by Tau forces seek to defend this planet.  Obviously, Imperial forces wish to take the planet back, so IG, SM, and SOB's invade.  Wishing to cause hate and discontent, elements of the Dark Eldar and forces of Chaos offer to side with the Tau for no other reason than to hurt the Imperium just a little bit more.  And of course, with their dark kin and forces of eeevil at work, this draws in the Eldar (to side with the Imperial forces). 

Unfortunately, I can't find a suitable place to put Necrons... so we may have to do without.

Again, the battlefield is the floor, so if you wish to participate, be prepared to crawl around or tap dance around models on the ground.

Being a PACMAD event, the cost to participate is still in debate, but so far it looks like $10 for non-members, $7 for members.  Not sure of location yet, so I don't know what food/drink accessibility we'll have, but at the very least, we could break for lunch (or have it delivered).

I'll update this as I get more information or get closer to the final planning stages.

If you're interested, and are reasonably sure you could participate sometime in June or July, please add on to this thread.  If you have questions, post them here or send me a PM.

[Sitruc]

Can I use a proxy crawl-in?  Like maybe my on of my grand daughters who loves to crawl around on the floor.  She is well disciplined and only move my figures where I want them.  No way will you see these arthritic knees touching the floor; once down you might as well bury me.

Other than that i would loved to play the game.

[bartschy]

I love the idea, but share the crawl in concern, and will be worried about somebody stepping on my figures sooner or later.

i have a sick idea, not sure if it can be executed, but maybe at least one of the works:

1. Hacve the playing field mode up from rolling tablefilling 80% of the room but they can be plitt in rows to get to models and move them.

setup a grid of table with holes in them that count as inpassible lakes and double as areas for players to sit or stand and actually play the game.

We would still need to crawl under the tables unless we have some rolling tables to minimize the crawlling, but atleast the chances of some body slipping on a landraider and falling onto the middle of the battlefield taking out 20K points of painted asrmies terrain and himself are minimized.

[Sheepshagga]

Never wanted to be Godzilla?  Not even once?? 

I understand everyone's concerns about the crawling part.  I have arthritis in both knees and have a foot injury from my time in the Corps. 

I've been racking my brain about how to have such a massive, and deep, battlefield while still using tables.  The best we can bunch together so a player can reach his models would be 8x8.  We could place several 8x8 tables near each other, perhaps connected by bridges so people can wander in and out between the tables if necessary.  The problems we have then are: Where do we get so many tables?  And if it's at a store, will they open early and stay open late? 

I've thought about asking Cliff for most of the store and nearly all of the big tables... 

Ideally, I'd like 4 8x8 tables set up, with a couple connecting bridges which gives the battlefield some depth.

I'll edit this post later with a table proposal, but in the meantime, any suggestions? 

[Sheepshagga]

Ok, after giving it some thought, and knowing how big I would like the battlefield, I came up with the following set-up.



-Each table section is 6x8, making them 16" long.

-”North” and “South” have a 3 foot gap to allow for people to move back and forth, but for game measuring purposes, North and South are only separated by 1”.

-Bridgeheads (and temporary bridges) will be set up to show where North and South are joined, and when a unit chooses to cross the bridge/shoot across the span, simply calculate +1”.

-12 turn game.

-I've got a full listing of scenario details and rules set up, but am bouncing some stuff around, so I'm just posting the table proposal first.

-So, where do we get this many tables? Game Empire?  Do we try to section off a huge portion of Cliff's store and use up every tabletop he's got?  It's possible.  I don't know who's got what out there, but if we (as a group) could collect up 8 4x6 table tops, and get a room or garage that we can set them up in, then I'd prefer that.  I know of three people alone that have this many tabletops, but I can't speak for them.  But it's quite possible to get all the tabletops we need amongst ourselves.

-Terrain should not be an issue either, since the PACMADS still have all that terrain from BSB.  Not to mention John M has an entire wall of terrain that we might be able to borrow.

-And going somewhere else allows the game to start and end whenever we want, plus as busy as GE is, we wouldn't have to deal with crowds or constant interruptions/distractions.

-And if this turns into a massive group effort, then I don't see a point in having an enrollment fee.  We could just show up and blow each other to bitz! 

Any more thoughts?  Does someone wish to loan a tabletop or two?  Does someone have a space/garage big enough to do this in?

[captkurt]

This should be a CON game....like the one in Sept...that would be awesome!

[Sheepshagga]

Well, if that's a serious consideration, then all the more reason to have a big battle first... to playtest it at the very least.

With a 18" x 16 foot deployment zone (the side zones have special rules attached, to be explained later on), there should be room for 5-7 people with 3500-4000 point armies.  When you consider "reserves" and "without number" (which I plan on using), then that's plenty of room.

My initial guess is at about 7 players per side.  Perhaps 4000 points per player.  28k per side, 56,000 points on the table!! 

And since it would be such a lengthy game, I plan to tweak the rules for "Reserves".  Instead of bringing in up to half on turn 2, then the rest on Turn 3, my suggestion would be: 1/3 on Turn 2, 1/3 on Turn 3, and the rest on Turn 4.

"Without Number" will be used, but only for troop choices (with associated champions and vehicles).  Where it differs from the normal rule- for the attacker, you can only bring the units back twice.  For the defender, you can only bring back units once.

A deep battlefield with deep objectives also encourages the use of droppods, deepstrikers, and flying transports, and basically makes sure that both armies aren't simply situated 24" apart and blasting away at each other.

[Brother Jim]

Necrons could be a wild card. They just want to kill the fleshies, so could be on either side.

[bartschy]

On the table subject who said we need a square battle field ?

We could setup an L or U or O or any other shape that gives us no more than 4 feet to the models

[Sheepshagga]

16x16 is pretty big.  Space-wise, this is a good, neutral setup for what I envision.  Large battlefield, deep objectives, a long fight with ample reserves to keep the action going. 

We could setup an L or U or O or any other shape that gives us no more than 4 feet to the models

As we Marines say, "Think outside the box", or in other words, get away from the norm and bring something totally unexpected.  Exercise all potential and attack something with ingenuity and imagination.  This is not meant to be a simple 6-turn game, therefore the need to have models within 4 feet of each other is not a necessity.  I also don't want a standard "you're on that side and I'm on this side" megabattle.  40k is so fluid and has so much potential for flying, deepstriking, etc..., that there's no reason (in a megabattle) to be limited to only 4 feet.  Also consider that some weapons reach 96" or 240".  Why not create a battlefield where they exercise their strengths?

But I have no objection to throwing in other tables to expand or misshape this blocky battlefield, but when you consider the extra room needed, extra tables needed, extra travel distance needed by the models, plus deployment zone considerations, it throws a wrench into the system. 

Our 40k gaming group has experimented with odd-shaped battlefields and deployment zones.  Didn't work so hot...  It made for very bloody first turns (with the strong possibility of completely eliminating a player or two right away), and made deployment/reinforcement a SUPER bonus- it lopsided things a bit. 

No, best to keep it simple, but first and foremost is having the room to even set something like this up.  A large room is typically square or rectangular, which means this setup will optimize whatever room space we get.  If we can get a bigger room, and if we have the materials, then we can add extra tables to break up the square.

[bartschy]

You totally missed my point the four feet are about as far as one can reach onto a table to move models.

All 1 am saying is don't have to many areas that are more than 4 feet away from any tableedge and again the table doesn't need to be square at all.

I am not sure about the 12 turn game either typically the megabattles don't make it to turn 6 since there is just so much going on.

Also remember the Iguard battle I was defending a backtable where no enemy model ever came close to my army so I was basically watching Jesse for the first 3 turns or 5 hours. Don't let that happen. The Apocalypse setup 12 inches apart rule should be considered to get everybody playing right away

[Solrac Spite King]

 

Ahhh, I remember the days doing these kinda battles when I was a weee one in various friends garages/living rooms.

They were all day sessions/weekends with MASSIVE amounts of carnage and armies!!!!!!





GE has had these types of MEgAbATTles before that took up the WHOLE GAMING ROOM!! Space Hulk and 40k!!!!

If we do have it at GE we could charge $10/15 for the store, which could in turn get store credit for Prizes and such.

Prizes for most objectices taken, best painted unit, great feats of valor (Blk Templar Champion killing a Bloodthirster... it HAPPENED)

Aaron also has those PacMad molds for trophies and such. We could award these for various actions during the battle. I think it

would be great promotion for the PAC mads.




The teams should be Evil/Vile/Nasty vs Good/GreaterGood/Good Fellows.

Will the objectives have in-game consequences? Such as hindering Reservers or Pin Point Drop Pod Attacks or Barrages?



Also, maybe we could turn this into a GOOD BYE 4th EDITION MEGABATTLE

Did something similar with various editions of 40k and WFB, which turned out to be a blast.

[Sheepshagga]

The tables would be 6 feet wide, but 8 feet long (but 16 feet in total length), so you could easily reach 3 feet across.  And if you have models closer to the other side, then just go to the other side (which is why I separated the two massive tables).

EDIT: I was hoping to avoid GE because of crowds/distractions, but in the off chance we can't go elsewhere, then I will look at the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th weekend in July.  The only possible day in June I won't be here for, so I'll look at July once Cliff posts a July calendar.  In fact, if someone gets to GE before I do, please ask Cliff or someone else to pull up July, then reserve the first available SATURDAY and reserve 5 tables.  Between the 5 tables, and utilizing all the 4x6 boards, we'll be able to create the 16x16 battlefield I'm hoping for.

In an effort to allow as many armies as possible, we can do Solrac's idea of good vs eeevile, and as a going away tribute to 4th Edition.  No more than 7 players per side I think, but I really want to avoid ALL Space Marines vs ALL Chaos Space Marines.  I'd really like a good mix of armies.  I'll eventually post for sign-ups and I'll put something in GE as well.

As for deep objectives, a set of rules will be posted later which details what is what.  If the attackers choose to completely ignore the deep objectives, then they are only hurting themselves.

This is intended to be a truly massive megabattle, so it will go beyond 6 turns.  After some thinking, perhaps 10 turns seems to be a good round number, but this may be adjusted according to how early we can get the store to open (9 am ?).  I've got a rough timeline figured, but as you know, there are always delays.  But roughly- when we are ready for setup, each side will alternate placing FOC choices, such as all superheavies, then all heavies, then all troops, etc...  Each side has 6 minutes to do each unit choice- anything not in place when time runs out goes into reserve.  Once we kick the game off, each side has 40 (?) minutes to (bring in reserves), move, shoot, assault, consolidate.  We did 30 minutes with 3500 points and 5 players per side.  It significantly sped up the game, and only one or two things ever got forgotten.  40 minutes for 4000 points seems suitable, and anything forgotten is considered "oh well".  So, 40 minutes per side is 1 hour and 20 minutes per full turn, so this game will probably last 9-10 hours.  keep in mind as more things are destroyed, the turns will end that much faster, so it's more likely the game will last 8 hours.

There are measures in place (reserves, without number) to keep the action going.  If someone does not have the stamina to go more than 6 turns, my advice would be to not sign up.  This is not for the feint of heart.  Come strong or don't come at all. 

If we do it at GE, then there will be an enrollment fee of $10 for non-PACMAD members, $7 per member.

Solrac, please PM me your thoughts on booby prizes.  I'd like to consider those...    And yes, objectives have in-game consequences, which is why I said that leaving the deep objectives alone could hurt the attackers.   

[Sheepshagga]

Um... July 5th and 19th are out, so that leaves 12 or 26 July or Aug 2.

I'll call GE tomorrow and try to get a hold of Cliff and have him reserve one or all of those days, then we can figure out which is most available to the majority of interested people.

[bartschy]

Hi,

If you really want to do past 6 turns I recommend we setup the table a day ahead of time,

Talk Cliff into letting us setup terrain on Friday if we play Saturday, I would also recommend following the setup idea from Apocalypse give everybody a set time to setup (this time include the unloading of models) and everything that isn't on the table when the whistle is in reserve.

If i would run this I try to do the following:

1. Sort out teams and armies ahead of time (easy thru the sign up sheet and forum)

2. Setup tables and terrain the night before

3. Hacve both sides deploy simulataniously, deployment time is between the store opening at 10 and 10:30 or 11:00 when the game starts, everything that is not on the table by than is in reserve.

Thanks

Marko